I don't have a complete understanding of how medieval wars were carried out. I understand this would require a lot of typing, but I'm just wondering if anyone could provide me with an outline of medieval European war using an example. If someone could provide me with a basic outline of how the war was conducted, some of the major events, factors and causes, as well as results of the war, that would be fantastic and would really help me I think. I'm not bothered which war is used, though I'd like it to be something less mainstream than the wars of the roses or the hundred years war. Thank you so much to whoever decided to put the effort in to answer this!
I hope that this thread may be of interest to you. In particular, my second and third posts get into the nitty-gritty of Norman warfare.
In the event that you don't read all of it, allow me to reemphasize certain key points. The number one thing you need to understand is that medieval strategy was largely Vegetian in nature. That is to say, the primary aim was to secure land, not to destroy the enemy's army. Major field battles were risky, unpredictable, and consequently, rare. A much safer policy was to wear the enemy down by raiding the countryside and, subsequently, besieging his strong points. Defending leaders would obviously try to counter this by maintaining strong, well-fortified castles. But more important by far was to keep one's army together and to shadow the enemy forces with it. If they dispersed to forage (that is, raid), the defender could fall upon parts of the army and defeat them in detail. A medieval army that cannot forage is dead on its feet, and will either have to retreat, force a battle, or wither away.